FEW MINUTES. BACK TO YOU. ? Carmen: WELL, HE BECAME KNOWN AS THE MASTERMIND BEHIND SEVERAL VIOLENT CRIMES IN METRO DETROIT. BUT NOW HE'S BEHIND BARS THANKS TO A MULTI-STATE MANHUNT. LOCAL 4 "DEFENDER" KEVIN DIETZ JOINS US WITH THE REASON SO MANY ARE BREATHING A SIGH OF RELIEF TONIGHT. KEVIN? Kevin: FROM HIS HAZEL PARK HOME, HE HIRED GUNMEN AND GETAWAY DRIVERS. TODAY, THE MASTERMIND OF THE VIOLENT CRIMES FOUND HIMSELF IN FRONT OF A JUDGE. EMPLOYEES IN FERNDALE'S BUSINESS DISTRICT ARE BREATHING EASIER KNOWING THAT RENARD CROWE HAS BEEN CAPTURED. HE'S THE MASTERMIND OF A VIOLENT GANG THAT TIED UP EMPLOYEES IN THIS PHARMACY. THREE OF HIS HIRED THUGS BEAT UP EMPLOYEES AND ROBBED THEM. HE WAS HIDING OUT IN ARIZONA WHILE HIRED HANDS WERE TRIED AND CONVICTED. THOSE IN THE FERNDALE BUSINESS DISTRICT ALWAYS WORRIED HE MIGHT COME BACK. THOSE THINGS ARE IN THE BACK OF OUR HEADS DAILY AS WE COME TO WORK. SO WE'RE HERE WITH THE DOORS LOCKED BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW. Kevin: HE TOLD THE JUDGE HE WASN'T AT THE PHARMACY, BUT THE FEDS SAY HE WAS A MASTERMIND AND THE COWARD WHO PLOTTED THE VIOLENT ATTACKS AND STAYED OUTSIDE SO HE COULD FLEE AT THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE. EITHER WAY, CROWE'S REIGN OF TERROR IS OVER. THE JUDGE DIDN'T BUY HIS STORY AND HAS A MESSAGE FOR ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE WHO THINKS VIOLENT ROBBERIES ARE A GOOD IDEA. HE SAID, LISTEN CLOSELY, AS HE SENTENCED CROWE TO 44 YEARS

FERNDALE, Mich. -

Employees in Ferndale's business district are breathing a little easier knowing that Raynard Crowe has been captured.

Crowe is the alleged mastermind of a violent gang that tied up employees inside a Ferndale pharmacy on 9 Mile Road. Investigators say three of his hired thugs then pistol whipped the employees while robbing the place in 2011.

The men also are accused of robbing a bank at gunpoint in Grosse Pointe Woods. Crowe was hiding out in Arizona while his hired hands were arrested and convicted.

On Wednesday, Crowe tried to tell a judge he was just the look-out guy. Federal investigators claim he was the mastermind.

They also called him a coward who plotted the violent attacks and stayed outside so he could run away at the first sign of trouble.

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